Heartland Express, Inc. $HTLD Stock Position Cut by American Century Companies Inc.

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. reduced its stake in Heartland Express, Inc. by 18.9% in the first quarter, now holding approximately 1.58% of the company valued at about $11.4 million.
• Insider buying activity included CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchasing 24,798 shares at an average cost of $8.19, increasing his total holdings to 1.49 million shares.
• Heartland Express reported a significant earnings miss, with a quarterly loss of ($0.14) per share and revenue of $210.39 million, falling short of analyst estimates.

American Century Companies Inc. decreased its stake in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Free Report) by 18.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,241,590 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 288,801 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 1.58% of Heartland Express worth $11,447,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 173.8% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 1,726 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 1,261.6% during the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,472 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 11,556 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the first quarter worth about $117,000. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 243.6% during the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 12,987 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $120,000 after acquiring an additional 9,207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 44.4% during the first quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 13,858 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 4,263 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.45% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on HTLD. Baird R W raised shares of Heartland Express to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Heartland Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $9.70.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HTLD traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $8.59. The stock had a trading volume of 355,417 shares, compared to its average volume of 679,321. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.11 and a 52 week high of $12.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $664.95 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.67 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.85.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.06). Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 4.42% and a negative net margin of 3.85%.The firm had revenue of $210.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $229.12 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.04) EPS. Heartland Express's revenue for the quarter was down 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 24,798 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.19 per share, for a total transaction of $203,095.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,491,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,218,398.92. This trade represents a 1.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have bought 30,000 shares of company stock valued at $245,752. 40.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Heartland Express Profile

Heartland Express, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a short-to-medium, and long-haul truckload carrier in the United States and Canada. It primarily provides nationwide asset-based dry van truckload service for shippers; cross-border freight and other transportation services; and temperature-controlled truckload services.